Scotian Shores removes 1.5 million pounds of debris from N.S. beaches

Scotian Shores collects ocean plastics and transforms them into useful items

“Scotian Shores started about five years ago. It was me and my family and my boys during the pandemic. The only place we could go was the beach. And that beach kept getting dirty,” recalled Angela Riley, founder of Scotian Shores, a grassroots organization focused on cleaning the ocean.

“So we started cleaning up, and I honestly was going into an eco-depression because I had my second child, and I didn’t know what to do. So, I did something, and then we started hosting events and more people come out than I ever thought would,” Riley said. “And in five years, it’s been 1.5 million pounds of debris removal just from Nova Scotia and that’s by like 99 per cent volunteerism.”

Riley not only collects debris found in the ocean but repurposes it into beautiful creations with the help of other artists.

“We also do a lot of waste diversion. So, half of what people see is the cleanups. They don’t realize the background of the diversion, within the cleanups themselves,” she said.

“There’s actually a lot of red tape that we have to go through permitting processes. There’s a lot of beaches you’re not allowed to clean certain times of year. And then the logistics when it comes to hauling away 18,000 pounds of garbage.”

As for beach cleanups, she tries to make is as seamless as possible.

“And just making sure it is family-friendly. Basically, event planning and making sure that people can show up, do something good,” she said. “Currently, we can divert about 80 per cent, but if the trap and rope recycling get shut down in Nova Scotia, bad news. Right now, it’s still kind of chugging along a little bit.”

She was inspired by other organizations who would sell bracelets to remove a pound of garbage from the ocean, but realized quickly, she would need to do more.

“I was like, ‘that’s a great idea. I’m going to do that’,” she laughed. “Before realizing that a lobster trap weighs 80 pounds each. That wasn’t the best promise for Nova Scotia. So, I started with just bracelets, but then Bev, the one that makes the rope rescues, she showed up at my door and she said, ‘you should sell these.’ And it kind of happens naturally. I try to just ride the waves.”

With 13 artists involved in the project, Riley will deliver some of the findings, while others can come to her cleanups, or work yard.

“It depends on the artist. But we also have a work yard in Aylesford, where we combine everything and stockpile it for recycling,” she said. “And artists are able to come cleanup and waste diversion. A lot of the good stuff does get taken away right away.”

As an artist herself, Riley creates earrings from discarded debris, ropework and sea glass work.

Eddy Simmons started getting involved in Scotian Shores after a cleanup with Riley.

“When I did the shoreline clean-up, and I saw how big the problem was. We had plastics washing ashore by the thousands and thousands of pounds,” Simmons said. “Rope balls that weighed over 200 pounds. It was dramatic. I couldn’t turn away. And with Angela there, obviously, I’m super motivated because she motivates the whole team.”

Prior to joining the team, Simmons did his own removal and recycling.

“I used to do ravines and things like that. And I’d been doing some more extreme things, but I had to find things I could recycle,” he said. “So, automobiles were when I started taking them apart because I knew auto recyclers could recycle. And, then Angela would send me donations from the sales of her bracelets.”

Simmons travelled for work and decided on a kayak trip that he wanted to do something about the pollution in the water.

“I had the chance to kayak on the ocean on a day off. And when I was out there doing that, there were ropes full of fish, full of crabs and all kinds of different animals that were trying to get out of it,” he said. “It took me 45 minutes to get it into the boat, and the people I was with were like, ‘you’re going to drown’.”

For Simmons, this kind of work is the dream, and having the reception by people in the community is the cherry on top.

“It’s doing something that’s bigger than myself. And it really contributes to the team and the community that we have built, I’m going to cry,” he said. “It’s pretty amazing.”

As for Riley, she says without the community, especially the fishers, she wouldn’t be where she is today.

“They come with their ATVs and traps and trailers and trucks, and it’s just it’s crazy fun time. And it’s really good to be working hand in hand with them, because a lot of the fishers that are out there today, they really do care,” she said. “And cleaning up this old legacy pollution stuff that’s been there for 40 years, they don’t want it to grow.”

With events planned for all of ocean week, Riley is inspired by her roots to continue to grow this project.

“I grew up on the ocean. My grandfather was a fisher, my grandmother was a fisher. My uncles fished,” she explained. “And it’s Nova Scotia, so we’re built on the back of fishers here, all their backs are broken because they’re hauling traps.”

“So, this is important to me. And like I said, I was a second a sailor, naval reservist, you know, the ocean speaks to me. And I really do believe that water is life.”

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